Skip to Content
Streetsblog Los Angeles home
Streetsblog Los Angeles home
Log In

Much of the talk on the Streetsblog Network in the past few days, perhaps prompted by the recently concluded Congress for the New Urbanism conference, is about transit-oriented development. The real estate crisis, it seems, may finally be pushing the issue into the mainstream.

Hub and Spokes cites a recent article
in the New York Times about new and proposed light rail lines in
communities around the country, such as Carrollton, TX. "Are we finally
seeing the key connection between transit and housing?" Hub and Spokes
asks. "The drive-to-qualify model is no longer viable."

Over at CUNY's Sustainable Cities Blog, they picked up a piece by Grist about "the best US transit systems you never knew existed":

Iwas familiar with a few of their case studies (the Olympics-driven SaltLake light rail, for example, is fantastic) but some were a completesurprise. Who would have thought that tourist-clogged Orlando was anup-and-comer? Or that the proud Confederate capital, Richmond, was a contender? Perhaps these success stories can be read as a sort of silver lining to our current economic woes.

Meanwhile, Mobilizing the Region
has the latest on New Jersey's transit village program, which "provides
financial incentives to communities committed to community
revitalization, traffic reduction and air quality improvement in the
areas surrounding their transit hubs." Orange, NJ, is the 20th
municipality in Jersey to get the designation, which comes with
$100,000 in funds and technical assistance in planning improvements
around the train station there.

And Light Rail AZ
is writing about how real estate agents are marketing apartments along
the rail line that goes from Phoenix to communities like Mesa and
Tempe. One is offering a free 31-day rail pass for new tenants. And the
apartments are attracting a rare breed in the Sun Belt, the carless
human:

Over at the La Paloma Apartmentsin Tempe, Veronica tells us that a lot of their residents are students,and she also mentions that "many of our residents are people that don’thave cars."

Imagine that.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog Los Angeles

Streetsblog Mourns the Passing of Donald Shoup

Rest in peace, Professor Shoup. Your memory will always be a blessing and your legacy will live for generations

February 8, 2025

Friday News Bits: Measure HLA, Metro Grants, and CicLAvia

Next week Measure HLA implementation documents face a city council committee meeting - plus new Metro MAT bike/walk grant cycle announced, and a new April CicLAvia map

February 7, 2025

In LA, it’s one crisis after another — and she can’t catch a break.

From the pandemic to the housing crisis to the wildfires, Wendy Lopez is among those caught in a cycle making it impossible to recover

February 7, 2025

SGV Connect 133: Introducing StreetSmart

Have you checked out StreetSmart? Here's some clips from our first three episodes.

February 6, 2025
See all posts